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BRITISH MISSION 



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ITS TRUE OEIGIN 



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DR. H. A. HABTT. 



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NEW-YORK : 
JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER, STEREOTYPER, AND BINDER, 

CORNER OF FRANKFORT AND JACOB STREETS, 

FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
1861. 






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THE 



BRITISH MISSION 



CHURCH OF THE PURITANS. 



ITS TRUE ORIGIN 



PROSECUTION UNDER THE POLICY 



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DR. H. A. HARTT. 









PTJBLiISHEID ZEB^T THE AUTHOR. 

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NEW-YORK: 

JOHN A. GRAY, PRINTER, STEREOTYPER, AND BINDER, 

CORNER OF FRANKFORT AND JACOB STREETS, 
FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 

1861. 



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PREFACE 



In giving publicity to the following pages, the object of the 
author is simply to remove certain misrepresentations which have 
been made, not only as to the motive which induced her to visit 
Great Britain, when she went on the mission of the Church of the 
Puritans ; but as to the course of action pursued by her, during the 
prosecution of said mission, which was the occasion of adverse 
feelings in the minds of some against her. In defense she has no 
means left except to give publicity to the policy which was ob- 
served towards her, leaving consequences to take care of them- 
selves, while she discharges a duty to herself and vindicates her 
veracity. 



THE BRITISH MISSION 



THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS. 



In order that every thing may be properly understood which 
is purposed to be narrated in these pages, it is necessary to go 
back a short time prior to the period when I suggested the 
idea of appealing to Great Britain for aid in behalf of the 
Church of the Puritans, and volunteered my services for that 
purpose. 

In the Autumn and December of 'fifty-eight, and January of 
'fifty-nine, Dr. liartt from time to time spoke to me concerning 
the financial condition of the Church of the Puritans, and re- 
quested me to get persons to join it and take pews, which 
was all right and proper. He told me several times that unless 
aid were got from without, the church would and must go 
down. 

Under these circumstances, and with the impression that 
the church would go down unless aid were speedily obtained 
from without, beyond that which, I was told, had already been 
procured ; and believing it to be of the greatest importance 
that Dr. Cheever should be sustained in his position, I sug- 
gested to Mrs. Grant — a member of the church — in Dr. Hartt's 
house, and in presence of his wife, that she (Mrs. Grant) and I 
together should visit Great Britain for the purpose of procur- 
ing pecuniary aid to sustain the church as a thoroughly Anti- 
Slavery church. On my further suggesting to Mrs. Grant 
that she should take Scotland and I, England, she replied, 
" No. I shall take England and you, Scotland,'' adding, " I 



6 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

have before this, told Dr. Cheever if he would come out of 
that church, and throw himself on the people of England, he 
would be sustained." Not on this evening, to the best of my 
recollection, but on one very shortly afterwards, I broke the 
subject to Dr. Hartt, who seemed to approve of the idea very 
much. Several conversations in reference to it were subse- 
quently held between Dr. Hartt, myself and others, which re- 
sulted in the determination that Mrs. Grant and I should visit 
Great Britain. It was, however, thought advisable, prior to 
our starting, that Washington should be visited for the same 
purpose. Mrs. Grant, who by this time had gone to Saratoga 
to reside, was accordingly written to by Dr. Hartt requesting 
her to go to Washington. On writing to her he thought it ad- 
visable not to name the subject of going to England, till after 
her return from Washington, lest she might proclaim it. How- 
ever, her answer brought her refusal to comply with his re- 
quest ; and evidently all forgetfulness of my proposition to her 
to accompany me to England, as she did not allude to it in her 
letter. 

Dr. Hartt now asked me if I would undertake the English 
mission alone. Being too much impressed with the necessity 
and importance of Dr. Cheever's being sustained in his posi- 
tion, I at once replied in the affirmative, though when I at 
first suggested trying England for aid, I did not contemplate 
going alone, and would have preferred the cooperation of a 
lady. 

Dr. Hartt now requested me to go to Washington previous 
to sailing for England. This, however, being soon afterwards 
abandoned, I prepared to undertake the English mission, and 
after being furnished with what were considered sufficient 
documents, attested by the signatures of gentlemen, whose 
judgment I had no reason to doubt, I sailed on the third of 
March, 'fifty-nine. 

On seeing some of my friends shortly after my arrival in 
London, my dismay can be more easily imagined than de- 
scribed, on being informed that I neither could nor would be 
able to accomplish any thing on the strength of the documents 
with which I had been sent forth ; that no indorsement would 
be given in consequence of their want of sufficient data ; such 



BRITISH MISSION. I 

as : A statement as to the strengtli of the church membership. 
How far, in a numerical point of view, the membership ex- 
ceeded the congregation ? What the present income of the 
Church ? And how far the income fell below the expenditure ? 
etc., etc., etc. And that in addition to this serious drawback, 
I would have to inform the people, inasmuch as, with few ex- 
ceptions, they knew little about American affairs, and nothing 
of the nature, cause and necessities of the mission. 

These documents, which will be found in the Appendix, con- 
sisted, first, of an appeal to the Churches of Great Britain ; 
second, an agreement as to the appropriation of the money I 
was about to solicit ; and third, a letter of authentication from 
the Pastor. 

Not being very easily cast down, and not as yet having dis- 
covered that the anti-slavery sentiment and spirit of Great 
Britain were not what they were some eighteen years ago, I 
resolved, notwithstanding this serious drawback at the outset, 
to see other parties before I should write home. I therefore 

saw Mr. B , a thorough business man — who on reading 

the documents pronounced them entirely too general. After- 
wards I saw the Kev. Mr. S , and Eev. Dr. C , by 

introduction from Eev. Mr. S , and Mr. C , all of whom 

reiterated the same thing. Mr. C , however, qualified what 

he said by saying : " That some might, and some might not ob- 
ject to die documents." This I suppose he said from partly 
understanding the case, in consequence of keeping himself 
always informed on anti-slavery matters; but the Eev. Mr. 
S and Dr. C— — were very severe in their strictures, par- 
ticularly the latter. 

I had now no alternative left me but to write home, which 
I did— not to find fault, nor make complaints, as I was in an- 
swer taunted with by Dr. Hartt, who conducted, and to whom 
was intrusted the correspondence — but to make known what 
had been said, and point out what it was necessary that the 
documents should contain in order to the success of the mission ; 
and also to say, that in consequence of this unexpected delay, 
of reprinting other necessary documents, and, of every thing 
being so expensive in England, I should require more funds 
than I had with me. 



8 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

I wrote Dr. Hartt most discouraginglj, naming the obstacles 
I saw in the way, and in a letter to the Pastor himself by the next 
ma il — only three days later— told him to give as mnch publicity 
to the mission in the congregation as possible, as it would not be 
concealed in England. I also told him in said letter, that no lay- 
man coming from the church would do any good ; that he must 
come himself; that his own popularity was an obstacle in the 
way ; that the American Revivals were obstacles in the way ; 
that the people of England knew nothing of our anti-slavery 
struggles; and that he owed it as a duty to England, to his 
own country, and to himself, to come. In these two discourag- 
ing letters I gave a full opportunity to do that which I did not 
like to do myself, namely, to break up the mission. This I did 
not like to do, lest it might be thought I was unwilling to pur- 
sue it; and also from being aware of Dr. Ilartt's sanguine na- 
ture, I knew it would be difficult to convince him of the ob- 
stacles in the way. However, I found by the following letter 
received from a member of the church some time after this, 
that those two letters produced the idea which I desired, 
namely, that the mission should be discontinued : 

"New- York, July 14th, 1850. 

My Dear Miss Johnstone : Your letter of the 28th June 
has just been received, and I can assure you of my sincere 

sympathy in your painful position In censuring 

Dr. Hartt so severely as you have done, you should recollect 
that the documents although drawn up by him, were submitted 
to the judgment of Dr. Cheever, and others, and met with their 
entire approval, so much so, that when you first wrote, express- 
ing dissatisfaction with what he had done, they wished to give 
up the whole thing at once, judging that you had not properly 
understood your course of action. But Dr. Hartt for your 
sake as a friend, and from his extreme anxiety for the success 
of your mission, insisted that you should not be deserted, and 
sat up one night, at least, writing to you, and would have done 
all in his power to assist you up to the present time, had you 
continued corresponding with him according to your agree- 
ment. (?) 

" I am sure you will excuse any apparent neglect on the 
part of Dr. C, when I tell you that in addition to his other 



BRITISH MISSION". 9 

labors, he is engaged in getting his new work through the 
press I trust that you will yet be permit- 
ted to bring your mission to a successful end ; and that you 
may have all needed grace and wisdom is the prayer of your 
friend, M. L -." 

Such is the account, which I received, of the effect my let- 
ters produced, according to Dr. Hartt's representation of the 
matter, through said member, though I now have information 
to the contrary — information which I have received from his 
own lips, as well as from those of others, since my return to 
New- York. 

It seems that so far from the signers of that document, enti- 
tled the "Appeal to the Churches of Great Britain and Ire- 
land," desiring that the mission should be broken up on receipt 
of those two letters, they were not made acquainted with their 
nature, if of their receipt. So much for his insisting that I 
should not be deserted. It also seems, from a statement of his 
own to me, that he, on receipt of those letters, took legal advice 
as to what he should do ; and on his making it known that I 
went on written agreement, he was told there might be the pos- 
sibility of a law-suit instituted against him, if I were recalled ; 
nay, farther, on my remonstrating with him on the cruelty of 
not recalling me when I gave opportunity, instead of encour- 
aging me to go on with the mission, he replied, in presence of 
some of the signers of the appeal : " Had I done so, it would 
have created suspicion, and put you in the light of an impos- 
tor." Now, so far from his having any anxiety lest I should 
be regarded in the light of an impostor by being recalled, he 
would have recalled me, if he, as he thought, could have done it 
with safety to himself He urged a lady, a member of the 
church, to write to me to give up the mission : but she would 
not do so. 

Not being able at that time to do any thing further in Lon- 
don, in consequence of my insufficient documents and the lack of 
information of American anti-slavery matters among the Eng- 
lish people, etc., with the uncertainty whether the continuance 
of the mission would be desired or not, which, if it were, with 
the certainty that before I could receive an answer, the May 
Meetings in London would be commenced, when nothing could 



10 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS 

be done, I left it, advisedly, for Edinburgh, which, being a 
much smaller place and thoroughly Anti-slavery, was better 
in which to make a beginning, whether in a quiet way or 
otherwise. After I had been in Edinburgh some time, .the 
month of May brought me a letter from Dr. Hartt, dated 
26th April, in answer to mine which I sent in reference to the 
documents. Its contents were any thing but what I expected, 
and quite unmerited ; to say nothing of one or two things 
which were not strictly correct. Nay, farther, it contained no 
allusion whatever to the additional funds which I told him I 
would require, but encouraged me to proceed with the mission, 
and desired that I, or my advisers, should draw up a statement 
from my original documents, and a few additional sentences 
which he sent me subsequently to the receipt of his letter of 
the 26th April. The following is nearly all of that letter : 

" New-York, April 26th, 1859. 
"My Dear Miss Johnstone: You know I have established 
my character for good-nature, otherwise I am afraid I should 
indulge just now in a temporary ebullition. You really seem 
to have got all topsy-turvy, and I can only ascribe it to the 
influence of sea-sickness. You have turned the number of my 
house from 296 to 269, and you have forgotten all my explana- 
tions and instructions with regard to the documents. I told 
you, from the first, that the letter to the churches would have 
to be general, in consequence of the chief difficulty under 
which we labor. I told you also that that letter was the only 
document which should be printed.* The other was intended 
merely as an agreement between ourselves, and a guide to the 
church in the appropriation and use of the funds you might 
obtain. It was never designed to be printed, \ or used in Eng- 
land at all except in a private way, to show a few leading men 
what our method with reference to that point would be ; leav- 

* This statement is incorrect 

\ As to the printing- of that document — Dr. Hartt's design to the contrary — his 
words to me on the subject were — and that in presence of two ladies : " You may 
append it to the other, (document,) and have fifteen hundred printed." The follow- 
ing parts of that sentence in his letter may have suggested themselves to his mind 
after the receipt of my two letters on the subject of the documents : but I have no 
recollection whatever of such instructions having been given to me before leaving 
New- York. 



BRITISH MISSION. 11 

ing it entirely to their discretion to state it or not to the people. 
1 supposed you were perfectly familiar with our difficulties, 
and could furnish a clear, succinct, and definite statement, and 
would have the advantage of consulting on the spot men who 
were thoroughly acquainted with the state of the public mind, 
who would advise you on the arrangement of the facts and 
details, so as to produce the greatest possible effect. 

" You had a letter from Dr. Cheever which not only certified 
your church membership, but also referred in distinct terms to 
your mission. That was enough to give authority to any doc- 
ument you should present, whether drawn up by yourself or 

any body else. All, then, that was necessary when Mr. S or 

Dr. C asked for a more definite statement than that embod- 
ied in our letter, was to proceed, viva voce, and tell them all about 
it ; and if they had demanded it in writing, just to ask for pen 
and ink, and write it down. It certainly seems very curious 
to me that you should have suspended your operations, run off 
to Scotland, dispatched a budget of complaints to me, and re- 
solved to wait for further instructions. But as this is your first 
mission, I suppose I must forgive you. I shall send you a few 
sentences on a separate sheet, to be added to our letter, which 
will perhaps present our need of aid in a stronger light, and I 
will make a few verbal alterations. 

" I will also inclose a short certificate signed for myself and 
also for the other signers of the letter, at their request. Nei- 
ther should be circulated. A few (not more than ten or twenty) 
copies of the letter should be printed, and they should be pre- 
sented from time to time to the clergy who may choose to take 
up a collection for us, and in all cases should be returned to 
you. If you communicate with parties at a distance, send your 
own statement, accompanied with a certificate from some influ- 
ential friend on the ground. 

"In order to refresh your memory I will give you a sketch 
of our position and difficulties, but you must draw up a docu- 
ment yourself, or get Mr. S , Dr. G , G T , or 

some other noble soul, to do it, after giving them all the inform- 
ation necessary for the purpose. I like your idea of a committee 
in London ; if they should get up public meetings, it would 
not do to read our letters before them, because the proceedings 



12 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

would be reported. It would be better, indeed, that nothing 
should be said of your mission. They, might put forth a me- 
morial themselves, founded upon the newspaper and other 
published reports, respecting the conflict of Dr. Cheever and 
his church with the slave-power, and propose a testimonial to 
aid and cheer them therein. The moral influence of such a 
demonstration would do us as much good as the money. It 
will not do for any of my documents to find their way into the 
hands of a wandering pro-slavery Yankee. They would ap- 
pear in the New -York ■ . . . . 

"Please remember now that nothing is to be printed except 
ten or twenty copies of the letter to the churches, and that 
they are only to go out of your hand for the purpose of being 
read in churches, and then to be returned to you. Every pos- 
sible precaution must be taken to prevent the publication of 
those documents in the newspapers, on account of the clamor 
which would be raised by our enemies. .If you could form a 
central committee in London, and sub-committees in Edin- 
burgh and other cities, and hold meetings for the purpose of 
getting up a testimonial, that would be a glorious thing, and I 
do not know a cause in all the world more worthy of it. Ad- 
vise with Dr. G and G T ; let them take the in- 
itiative and direction if they will. . . . Dear Miss John- 
stone, do not be discouraged. I trust you will succeed. 

Do the best you can, and whether you succeed or not, I 
shall thank you for the effort. Yours most truly, 

"II. A. Hartt." 

On my sending this most extraordinary letter to a gentleman 
in London, for his advice in regard to it, his reply was as fol- 
lows : 

"The question as to what it is best you should do under the 
circumstances in which you are placed, requires some little 
time for reflection; and I should be loath to give an opinion until 

I have time to consult Mr. T , whose opinion would have 

greater weight with Dr. Hartt than mine could possibly have. 
Whatever he may advise, yon may rely upon it, his judgment 
will be a sound one. Very truly yours, 

"F. W. C." 



BRITISH MISSION. 13 

However, before Mr. T 's opinion was given, I received an- 
other letter from Dr. Ilartt, containing the additional sentences, 
from which the following is a quotation : "Now remember that 
you have full authority to represent this cause, and proceed 
boldly, only taking care to prevent a premature denouement 

in this country." This letter, as Mr. C said, "removed 

all restrictions " imposed by the first. But where, I ask, were 
the documentary specifications which I particularly mentioned 
were required? And if such could not be given, it is not too 
much to say that it was a species of unheard-of cruelty to en- 
courage me to go on and then desert me. No viva voce state- 
ment of mine, under the circumstances, could supply the place 
of documentary specifications ; and surely no one can blame 
me for the exercise of caution and common-sense in not draw- 
ing up a statement of facts or specifications which, on being 
made known was necessary to the success of the mission, the 
proper parties declined to do. Shortly after the receipt of Dr. 
Hani's of" 26th April, 1 received one from Dr. Cheever, in 
which he also encouraged me to go on with the mission. The 
following extracts from it will, with those from Dr. Hartt's, 
and that from his second, give a very different idea of, and 
aspect to, my position from that conveyed by statements made 
by him to the Secretary of the Edinburgh Committee in be- 
half of Dr. C, near the end of the mission, and which will be 
treated of in order. 

" New -York, May 5th, 1859. 
" My Dear Miss Johnstone : I received your note . . . 
But I have now no time to reply, except to bid you God speed, 
and to express our earnest hope that you may be able to accom- 
plish something for us. ... I am scribbling this line 
in Dr. Hartt's parlor, that he may have it to send away with 
his other documents to you by to-morrow's steamer. 
At present I am unable to write to Mr. Spurgeon or Dr. Guth- 
rie, but think I will endeavor to do so soon. Do not be dis- 
couraged in your work, for though we greatly need pecuniary 
aid, yet if we get nothing but sympathy, provided we do get 
that, and it is hearty, your mission will not fail. But our 
friends in Great Britain can have little idea of the terrible 



14 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

struggle in which we are engaged. . . . We hope to hear 
something more favorable from } r ou ere long. 
"I remain, respectfully and truly, 

" Your friend and pastor, 

" George B. Cheever." 

By the same mail that brought me Dr. Cheever's of 5th May, 
I received another from Dr. Hartt, dated 6th May, in which 
he says : 

" I send you by this mail several copies of the Anti-Slavery 
Standard, containing an editorial respecting your mission. I 
think it will aid you in your efforts. . . . There is allusion 
in the editorial to a project for enabling Dr. C. to extend the 
sphere of his labors in the cause of freedom. I do not know 
whether you heard of it before you left. If we succeed in ob- 
taining funds enough, we propose to procure a colleague for the 
Doctor, so that he may be able to go forth repeatedly to indoc- 
trinate the masses. You may include this in your statement 
or not as you and your advisers may deem best. 

" Yours very truly, II. A. Hartt. '- 

On receipt of this, to me, most extraordinary piece of intel- 
ligence, under the circumstances, I immediately wrote Dr. 
Cheever and asked an explanation, and pointed out the strange 
anomaly of pleading for what was presented to me — a poverty- 
stricken church — and a colleague at one and the same time. 
Now a silence of two months and ten clays was observed ; 
which appears by letter dated 14th July, was in consequence of 
my writing Dr. Cheever on the subject of the colleague instead 
of to Dr. Hartt. During this long silence, from the 6th of 
May to the 16th of July, I wrote many letters, and urged 
again and again the necessity of sending me funds, but both 
the receipt of my letters and the request of sending me funds 
were passed by in silence. ' This I felt most intensely, seeing 
that the mission was now likely to be prolonged far beyond 
the time that I must return home in order to avoid the entail- 
ment of a very serious injury upon myself; and that unless I 
got money, operations would be stultified and necessary per- 
sonal expenses not met : all of which, as will be seen by and 
by, have been most seriously realized. However, what my 



BRITISH MISSION. 15 

letters failed to do, an editorial which had its appearance in the 
New- York Independent, in reference to the mission, accom- 
plished. That editorial had the effect of bringing two letters to 

Gr — — T , and one to myself eighteen days later, from Dr. 

Hartt, under date of July 16, 1859, in Appendix. His letter I 
regarded as a most insincere production on comparing it with 
the one first quoted from a member of the church, which from 
its style and phraseology I knew at once to have been written 
under his direction ; and looked upon his apology as a very sorry 
excuse indeed for so long a silence, under such circumstances — a 
silence which, with defective documents, caused a cloud of 
suspicion or mystery to hang over my head, and which, for the 
time being, received confirmation by the appearance of the 
New- York Independents editorial. Even at this juncture, 
had I been allowed to make public use of those letters sent to 

G T , or had they been addressed to me, so that I 

might have given them to parties who could have made an 
effective use of them, it would have been some comfort. But 
no, I had to suffer on in silence, with the prohibition that I 
was to " make no public use of them without consultation ;" 
and with the mortification of being told I " might, it was 
thought, without any breach of trust, get a sight of them, for 
my own information ;" and with " regrets that the Doctor, in 
his letter, had treated all the points of the malignant article in 
such a way that it could not be published, and sent by thou- 
sands all over the land." Such was my position about the end 
of July. The conduct practised towards me was cruel in the 
extreme. No advice which I gave, no suggestion which I 
made, no information which I sent out, seemed to be regarded. 
I was treated to silence and neglect, which caused many a re- 
mark to be made painful to me to hear, such as : " Your hands 
are not strengthened by your friends at home." Nay, even I 
was told to my face I was very badly used, and one gentleman 
in particular, a great admirer of Dr. Cheever, advised rne to 
throw up the mission, adding: "That were I a friend of his, he 
would not allow me to stand before a British public in the light 
that I stood ; and that he considered the Church of the Puri- 
tans as having used me very badly." I knew just as well as 
he, how I stood before the British public, but I also knew that 
then was not the time to withdraw, when a cloud of suspicion 



16 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

hung over my head which I could not remove. I had to re- 
main firm to my post, even though I was then almost penni- 
less, knowing that time would show I was no impostor, if Dr. 
Guthrie and others put into executionwhat they had promised. 

But my painful position and sufferings did not end here, for 
the month of August found me penniless. How now was I to 
conceal this, and save the credit of the church and par- 
ties at home? Here was I — it being near the time I should 
return home — with the mission not begun, in consequence of 
insufficient documents, a long silence, my disregarded advice, 
and not a penny in my pocket. It was no use to appeal fur- 
ther to Dr. Hartt, as he evidently not only had steeled him- 
self against any appeal, but betrayed an entire obliviousness to 
the danger there was of jeopardizing the church by such a 
course of procedure. But for the kindness of one^ family of 
my own friends in Edinburgh, in enabling me to conceal this 
state of affairs from ail but themselves, till near the close oi 
the mission, it would then have had to come to light. How- 
ever, Dr. Hartt, by his subsequent course of action, unavoida- 
bly forced the matter before some of the Edinburgh committee. 
The following extracts from a letter I received from one of its 
members, about six weeks before my return home, will corrob- 
orate the statements that I have made, as also will those of 
another, succeeding them, which I received from a gentleman 
at Manchester. 

"Edinburgh, 15th May, 1S60. 

"My Dear Miss Johnstone: You will be surprised at not 
having heard from me before this. . , . Excuse me. . 

. . The whole amount of my list is £229 18s. 2Jd.** Very 
small to what it should have been. But we have got nothing 

yet from Free St. George's, nor from Mr. W 's, nor from 

Dr. B 's. . . . Try to ascertain all the sums which have 

been raised in Scotland and England through your influence, as 
far as possible. . . . Your success is small. But you could 
not command success. You have, however, certainly merited 
success. I must say you fought a good fight under many dif- 
ficulties and discouragements and obstacles, some of which 

* The above list is only what the Edinburgh Committee had collected up to 
that date. Other Committees and Societies, throughout the country, collected and 
sent out moneys. 



BRITISH MISSION. 17 

might have been anticipated, some could not have been fore- 
seen. Some of the chief have arisen from the peculiar circum- 
stances of the undertaking, and particularly the unhappy sort 
of mystery which has hung over your position ; and this comes 
out strongly in Dr. Hartt's letters, of which I have just had a 
perusal. ^Perhaps circumstances of which I can not judge 
rendered this mystery necessary, but it has been most preju- 
dicial to your mission. It created a degree of suspicion from 
the first, which von could not, according to your instructions, 
remove by a frank and open statement. At all events you are 
entitled to the greatest praise and warmest gratitude from all 
the friends of Hie cause, especially from the Church of the 
Puritans, and I hope you will allow me to express my sincere 
sympathy for the very awkward and painful position in which 
you are placed. You will understand that I have expressed 
only my own individual opinion ; I have little doubt, however, 
that others, if made aware of all the circumstances, would con- 
cur with me. ... If in any way I can serve you, command 

nie . I am yours, with respect, H. D. D . 

" Miss Johnstone." 

" Manchester, January 4th, 1860. 
« My Dear Miss Johnstone: I obtained your letter yester- 
day, but was too busy to acknowledge it. ... I think 
you have adopted the right policy. Dr. Ilartt does not seem 
to follow up what he proposes. He wrote to me lor an imme- 
diate answer to a proposal, but when he got my conditional 
acquiescence, he left me without any decision. . . . lhere 
should be some one in New-York with a ready pen, a sound 
judgment, and a generous soul, to discharge the duty oi main- 
taining a' weekly correspondence with those on this side en- 
ga-edin the fore front of the battle for Dr. C. Nothing sooner 
causes the soul of a distant and solitary agent, in the midst of 
difficulties and perplexities, to droop than silence, inattention 
or want of generous consideration and concern on the part ol 
those at head-quarters. I have felt much for you, and I think 
I have penetrated some of the causes of those mental suffer- 
ings you have been called upon to endure. 

"Believe me, ever most truly yours, 

" G. T ." 

2 



18 



On the 17th October, a committee was formed at Edin- 
burgh to take up Dr. Cheever's case, when it seems my 
position became matter of discussion. A gentleman present, 
not one of the committee, gave information that I was to re- 
ceive so much on all moneys obtained. This information was 
not communicated to me till some subsequent meeting of the 
committee, when the Secretary, in rather a sort of jocular man- 
ner, told me of it, and how absurdly the committee regarded 
it. Having ere this learned from another quarter, in reference 
to a similar matter, that this method of remuneration was not 
quite in accordance with the genius of the British people ; and 
its being no suggestion or proposition of mine, and entirely a 
private matter, I neither negatively nor affirmatively passed a 
remark on the subject to the Secretary, beyond that of sur- 
prise, but sent a note to the committee by the treasurer, who 
also named the matter to me, informing them that up to the 
time they took the mission out of my hands, I had sustained it 
at my own expense,. and that any per-centage I should receive, 
or reimbursement made to me, would depend upon the success 
of the mission, and the financial condition of the church. 
This was strictly the truth, and my position laid before them 
in this form and light did away with the commercial aspect of 
per-centage.* I now wrote to Dr. Hartt, informing him of 
this circumstance, and what I found necessary to write to the 
committee, in order to prevent any disagreeable impression 
being made, with full instructions how to act in the matter, 
and about putting me in possession of funds to clear my way 
and take me home. But he in this, as in other things, did not 
abide by my advice, which, with being crippled for want of 
funds previous to the formation of the committee, injured the 
mission financially. 

Either in this letter, which conveyed the intelligence of this 
remuneration affair, or in one previous — I do not now remem- 
ber—I told Dr. Hartt I was penniless, and but for the kind- 
ness of a party in Edinburgh I do not know what I should 

* I may mention here, that previous to sailing for England I received one hun- 
dred dollars from Dr. Hartt ; but it was given merely as a loan, and was by him 
regarded only as such, up to the time he desired the Edinburgh committee to de- 
duct it, however much lie may have changed his mind in regard to it now. 



BRITISH MISSION. 19 

have done. No notice was taken of this appeal any more 
than of the former. I now had suffered very great depriva- 
tions in the way of personal necessaries, for the simple reason 
I could not make the cause known without putting the church, 
and perhaps innocent parties, in a position which neither hu- 
manity nor Christianity could approve. 

My only hope now of getting funds to pay incurred expenses, 
continue the mission, and take me home, was hy applying to 
the committee through the Secretary before the first install- 
ment was sent out to the Church. But on my doing so, he 
informed me that was a thing the committee had nothing to 
do with, being a private matter between me and the parties in 
New-York, and advised me to write to Mr. Hartt. I replied, 
I looked upon any response to my doing so as hopeless, having 
written to him so many times before on the subject without 
receiving any answer ; however, I did so. Whether Mr. Burn 
Murdoch w T rote at the same time, I can not say. Be that as it 
may, an answer came to him to this effect : " We do not know 
what moneys have been collected ; but we consider ten per 
cent fair remuneration for Miss Johnstone's services. Would 
you give her ten per cent on what moneys you have, and in- 
form other committees that may be formed to do the same ?" 
If my feelings had been wounded and lacerated from time to 
time before, in consequence of cold neglect and disregarded 
advice, they were ten fold more so now, by the entire want of 
delicacy of thought and feeling evinced in the instructions to 
proclaim me a ten per cent commission agent from the Church 
of the Puritans. The answer was such as Mr. Burn Murdoch 
did not expect, for he always held out that Dr. Hartt would 
return moneys as soon as obtained, seeing it was the public's 
money, and by them must be sent out to the Church, and from 
them to be returned to me to prosecute the mission. He re- 
marked' on the indefinite nature of Dr. Hartt's letter, and said 
that the money that they had on hand was but a little, the second 
installment having been sent out. I may here mention, that 
the letters which passed between Mr. B. Murdoch and Dr. 
Hartt, were refused to be read to me, which to say the least of 
it, was to me most unfair: and, query, under the circum- 
stances, would it be considered quite honest ? Dr. Hartt ex- 



20 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

cnses himself upon the plea that " when Mr. B. Murdoch wrote 
to him confidentially, he of course had to do the same." 

After I had accomplished by hard labor, both of head and 
hands, all that I could do in Edinburgh and Glasgow, besides 
keeping up a most extensive correspondence, I went to Loudon 
— not, however, before it was long past the time I should have 
gone, in consequence of not being in funds. Before I started, 
however, I received twenty pounds from Mr. B. Murdoch, as 
remuneration for my services, as it was termed. I had then 
been within a fortnight of being twelve months in the country. 
More than this twenty pounds I was indebted. How was I to go 
to London and pay incurred expenses? Mr. 13. Murdoch pro- 
posed I should give ten pounds towards the liquidation of 
these expenses, and take the other ten with which to proceed to 
London and make a commencement, till he would hear from 
America. I replied [could not give so small a sum as ten pounds 
towards my debt: I therefore gave fourteen: leaving but Bix, 
and one which I had from the sale of some books, with which 
to proceed to London. After I had been there some time, and 
not hearing from Mr. B. Murdoch, 1 wrote to him, making 
inquiries what news from America. His answer was to the 
effect, he had received a letter from Dr. Flartt, containing in- 
structions " that I was to be remunerated" up to the ten per 
cent only. This of course put an end to operations in London 
— not because I was to be remunerated "up to ten per cent 
only," but because I had no funds with which to carry on the 
mission. Knowing that the twenty pounds that I .received 
from the Edinburgh Committee was all that 1 could receive at 
that time, they having sent out their second installment to the 
church, I now wrote in the greatest anguish of mind, to know 
what I should do, as I neither could leave London, nor yet 
remain in it, without money. The following is the answer 
which I received : 

"Dear Madam : I just have your note of 20th inst. and have 
forwarded it to Mr. D . Meanwhile I can, of course, ad- 
vise nothing. I am truly sorry that you should feel so annoyed 
in this matter. Ever very truly yours, 

"J. Burns Murdoch, Jr." 



BRITISH MISSION. 21 

Fortunately for me, there was a lady in London to whom I 
conld apply, and from whom I received eight pounds, and so 
left London, after having a second time spent five weeks in it; 
and had succeeded in enlisting the sympathies of a great number 
of the leading metropolitan clergymen ; had Finsbury Church 
promised for a public meeting, which in all likelihood would 
have taken place after the May Meetings, had the thing been fol- 
lowed up. I now returned to Glasgow, via Edinburgh, where 
I saw Mr. B. Murdoch. He now produced the letter which he 
had received from Dr. Hartt, and read to me the following 
sentences, on my complaining of this unmerited position : 
" We would prefer that you settle with Miss Johnstone, de- 
ducting one hundred and six dollars.* We are surprised that 
she should object to ten per cent not being sufficient, as this is 
on written agreement. Any thing further that may be given 
to her, will be given as a present. We should be sorry that 
Miss Johnstone sustains any loss by this enterprise" (?) " but it 
was her own voluntary undertaking for the cause of freedom." 

Such is, as nearly as I can remember, what Mr. B. Murdoch 
read to me of that letter. After so doing he remarked that my 
position was what I had voluntarily brought upon myself. This 
I denied in toto. 

Those sentences read to me from Dr. Hartt's letter, with Mr. 
B. Murdoch's remarks in reference to my position, compelled 
me, in corroboration of my statements, to send a statement 
through Dr. Candlish to the Edinburgh Committee, and to Mr. 
B. Murdoch, several letters of Dr. Hartt, and the agreement as 
to the appropriation of the money I was soliciting. 

Mr. D., the treasurer, who was present at the reading of 
these sentences from Dr. Hartt's letter, said to me, " he never 
before had been put in such a position." For here he was, 
both instructed and expected, to pay me money, but had none 
with which to do it, without imposing disagreeable inquiries. 
And surely it is not too much to say that it reflected but little 
credit on the feelings at least, if not on the judgment, of any 

* The s'x dollars over the hundred were paid for books sent out with me, with 
a view to aid the mission. But I never dreamed it was expected I should pay for 
those books. 



22 THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' 

"party, or parties, to request those great and good men to un- 
dertake so unpleasant a matter of business. 

But the affair did not end here. In consequence of no funds 
being forthcoming, I had to remain in Glasgow, with, I may 
say, entire strangers for two months and two days, before I 
could get off for America. The proclamation of this remuner- 
ation affair — a private matter altogether — put the finishing 
stroke on the mission. For though I exerted myself to the 
utmost in getting up the Glasgow meeting— against so many 
obstacles— also that of Dundee, Perth, Galashiels and Kelso, 
I took no interest in the finance, as I did in Edinburgh, even 
refusing to receive contributions that were offered through me 
— instructing the parties to send them to the Secretary or Trea- 
surer. 

As to the painful position being the consequence of my own 
voluntary undertaking, I am prepared to show such was not the 
case, notwithstanding a written agreement. This is quite ap- 
parent and fully proved by the following letter from the Ilev. C. 

H. S : " Dear Madam : I shall be most happy to cooperate 

with Dr. Guthrie on behalf of your excellent pastor, Dr. Chee- 
ver, and am only sorry that the fact of your having been sent 
out by your American friends, without proper and prudent 
precautions, (in the way of introductions, etc.,) should have 
rendered it my duty on a former occasion to delay the re- 
quested aid until farther inquiry. A letter from Dr. Cheever, 

dated September 1, removes all doubts I am, yours 

truly, C. II. S ." Fully proved by the imperfect docu- 
ments given me, which on being made known, were not amend- 
ed, so as to be of any immediate service in the way of getting 
an indorsement, or otherwise; fully proved by my giving a 
full opportunity — if these documents could not be so amended 
— of withdrawing the mission, but instead of which I was en- 
couraged to go on ; fully proved by the long silence of two 
months and ten days, which was observed towards me — with 
being kept in ignorance of all that was transpiring at home, 
thereby rendering me unable to explain when interrogated by 
parties, who seemed to be informed on many things, of which 
I was kept in ignorance ; fully proved by the second long 
silence to which I was treated, from the beginning of Septem- 



BRITISH MISSION. 23 

ber to the end of November, with all my advice, and every 
thing which I suggested, or asked, disregarded, even from the 
time I first wrote about my defective documents, until the close 
of the mission. 

As to my going on written agreement, I am prepared to 
show that I did not go on that, in the sense that Dr. Ilartt 
would have it understood. Long before that agreement was 
drawn up, he (Dr. Hartt) made the proposition to me of ten 
per cent, and asked me if I would undertake it for that. Such 
was not my suggestion to him, nor yet did the idea of ten per 
cent ever strike me ; and when it was proposed to me, I knew 
not, whether or not such was the proper way by which such 
missions should be sustained. Most assuredly such was no 
proposition of mine, any more than was that which he (Dr. 
Ilartt) added to my agreement at the eleventh hour, namely, 
" that she takes upon herself all the risks of the enterprise." 

On writing one agreement in reference to the appropriation 
of the funds to be solicited, he laid it aside, after being signed, 
then wrote another, to which, after having written as far as, 
"the understanding with . . . Miss Johnstone is, etc., etc.," 
he added, " and that she takes upon herself all the risks of the 
enterprise," saying, " I do not say that it shall be so, but I shall 
put it so." 

When he announced this most extraordinary addition, I was 
so astonished I could not answer him a word beyond that of 
saving — when feeling for him, what he evidently could not 
feel for himself, nor the church : " Doctor, it will not do for 
that to be seen in England." Had he made known to me when 
he proposed the ten per cent, that it was his intention to throw 
on my shoulders all the risks of the enterprise — nay, even had 
he named it a week earlier than he did — and not at the elev- 
enth—the day but one before I sailed — with all my professional 
duties given up, and other parties having undertaken them — 
with ray passage taken for Europe, and friends written to in 
London to procure apartments for me — I never should have 
undertaken the mission under the circumstances. Therefore I 
must disclaim all credit for the generosity of voluntarily hav- 
ing taken upon myself all the risks of the mission. 



24 

I most willingly broke my engagements in mid-winter to 
give five months of my time at most, with what funds I conld 
then command, to endeavor to get aid for the church, under 
the circumstances represented to me ; but to have volunteered 
to undertake all the risks of the mission, I should have con- 
sidered that rather a presumptuous act, though circumstances, 
when such was proposed, and almost instantaneously jotted 
clown, forced me, as it were, into acquiescence. 

Those persons to whom misrepresentations have been made 
in reference to my course of action, during the prosecution of 
the mission, have now an opportunity, from the foregoing 
pages, of judging what was the extent of my blunders, as 
alleged by Dr. Hartt ; and also of the nature of my painful 
position — the result of his course of action and policy towards 
me — and which is further proved by the following extracts of 
letters received just on the eve of my departure : 

"Edinburgh, 28th June, 1860. 

" My Deau Miss Johnstone : I have seen Mr. B. Murdoch, 
and have arranged with him to send } 7 ou £21, to enable you 
to cross the Atlantic, although, as I told you in one of my late 

letters, I had only seven on hand However, as 

arranged with Mr. B. Murdoch, I inclose my check on the City 
of Glasgow Bank for £21, which I hope will be sufficient For 
your purpose. We rely on being reimbursed from America, 
if sufficient funds do not come in here. Try and snatch as 
much time before leaving as to acknowledge receipt of this. 
And be so good as to write. me all particulars as soon as you 
can after arrival. 

"I am exceedingly sorry that your generous undertaking 
should have terminated so unsatisfactorily, and to you so pain- 
fully. 

" Wishing you a prosperous voyage, I am, 

"My dear friend, 

u Yours sincerely, 

« II. D. D ." 

"Miss Johnstone." 



BRITISH MISSION. 25 

" Glasgow, 3d July, 1860. 

"Dear Miss Johnstone: As I know you have been some- 
what discouraged and cast down, by the apparent neglect and 
indifference with which some of your American friends have 
treated yon, since yon have been a sojourner under my 
roof, perhaps you will allow me on this the eve of your de- 
parture for America to state by way of encouragement how 
much I have been indebted, as well as many other friends of 
the Slave in Glasgow, to yon, for rekindling anew our anti- 
slavery feelings, by the unwearied perseverance shown in day 
after day visiting the various ministers in town, till at last you 
were enabled to get up a public meeting in favor of Dr. 
Cheever's cause, which I doubt not must have been felt to 

have a powerful influence for good I must say 

that had no other good been accomplished than the getting up 
of that meeting, you had done a good work to the cause of 
humanity.^ I am persuaded, nothing but a heartfelt conviction 
that you were in the path of duty could have carried you 
through the difficulties you had to encounter; and the wonder 
to myself as well as to all who know what you have done, has 
been, how you managed to get through it. Your visit has 
done much to open the eyes of the Christian public to the true 
character of American Slavery ; and I trust, indeed I am satis- 
fied, you will have your reward in seeing a more decided stand 
taken by Christians in this country on the subject of union 
with slaveholders. Let me therefore express my thanks for 
your visit. 

"Any hospitality I have been able to show you, has been 
done purely out of love to the cause of the Slave. You came 
a perfect stranger, recommended on account of the work you 
had undertaken ; but we must say we have all enjoyed your 
company, and in parting with you, our best wishes go with 
you, -and it shall ever give me the greatest pleasure to hear of 
your welfare. I am, 

"Dear Miss Johnstone, 

"Yours truly, 

« L. M ." 

Now in conclusion, I have only to add, that the representa- 
tions made as to the object of my visiting Great Britain are 



26 THE CHUECH OF THE PUKITANS' 

most incorrect, namely, that I was going to see my friends. So 
far from that being the case, or my having the slightest idea of 
such a thing at the time, I — in addition to all my documents, 
and the testimony of many of my friends, if necessary, to the con- 
trary — subjoin a quotation from the letter of a gentleman, who 
sailed from New- York on the 19th January, 1859, just four 
weeks previous to my writing to him that I expected to be in 
London at such a time ; and who had undertaken to transact 
a matter of business for me — a thing which I was not likely 
to request if I had had the prospect, or any idea of going over 
in six weeks after the date of his departure ; and who, more- 
over, in the absence of explanations in my letter to him, ex- 
presses astonishment at my intention of coming to London — 
it being quite contrary to advice given by him, and my deter- 
mination to abide by that advice. The following is from his 
letter : 

" Cheltenham, 3d March,. 1859. 
" Dear Miss Johnstone : Your note of the 15th February, 
which I received two days ago, was a great surprise, for I quite 
understood you had made up your mind to remain at New- 
York 

I handed Mr. Tweedie your parcel, and left my address ; but 

I have not heard from him Hoping to hear that 

you have got safely over the sea, I remain, 

" Yours truly, 

« C. D. A ." 

That I did, to one or two persons with whom I was coming 
in daily contact, say that I was going to see my friends, I 
do not wish to conceal, seeing that, this was said as an inci- 
dental thing on my going on the mission — not as the motive ; 
there can be no difficulty in understanding this, particularly 
when it could not be told publicly for what I was going. Why, 

Mrs. C r herself, said to me, not long before starting : " Miss 

Johnstone, I would have got you a letter of introduction, from 

Mrs. M 11 to Mrs. L. D in Edinburgh, but if I had done 

so, I should be afraid it would leak out for what you are going. 

But call on Mrs. L. D when you get to Edinburgh ; and you 

can tell her the reason why you did not bring her a letter." 

That I to any person, or persons — who knew of this intend- 



BRITISH MISSION. 27 

ed application to Britain for aid — said I was going to see my 
friends, I most positively deny. I did not, nor to any one else, 
with the exception of one or two individuals already alluded 
to ; and to whom it was said only as a thing consequent on or 
incidental to my going on the mission — not as the motive, 
and was said within a fortnight only of my sailing. But what 
appears to me so singular is, that it should never have reached 
my ears before I left New-York, that Dr. Hartt had given it 
forth that the object of my visiting Great Britain was to see 
my friends ; for it seems he did so, when he broke the subject 
to the parties who signed the appeal, thus making the mission a 
mere incidental thing. No doubt he would have liked, and still 
would like to have it so, as also he would have liked I had re- 
mained in Great Britain. This I have from a lady, to whom 
he said — on my writing to her, making inquiries as to what 
was the state of public feeling — " I will take it as a favor 
if you will write to her and tell her to remain where she is. Tell 
her there is no opening here for her." 

I have also to add, that from a letter received from a friend 
in Scotland, it appears that Dr. Cheever, previous to his leav- 
ing New- York, knew nothing of how matters stood with me 
in Britain. Neither did the gentlemen, who signed the letter 
of appeal, know previous to my return. It seems, from their 
own statements to me, that my correspondence had never been 
laid before them ; nor its true nature made known. So thus 
they stand exonerated from all blame in regard to the policy ob- 
served towards me — a policy which has been most disastrous 
to me. Notwithstanding, I do not regret in one point of view, 
having visited Great Britain on this mission, inasmuch as it 
has been a great means in the providence of God of rekindling 
the Anti-slavery spirit and feeling of that country. But there is 
a point of view in which I do have some cause of regret, and it 
is this. ' Had I known, at the time I proposed visiting England, 
as much about the organization and polity of the Church of the 
Puritans and its Society, as I do now, I should have paused be- 
fore suggesting the expediency of applying to Great Britain, or 
any other country, for aid under such circumstances. My not 
having been long a Congregationalist must be my apology for 
any error in judgment in this matter. And I am willing that 



28 CHURCH OF THE PURITANS' BRITISH MISSION. 

my course of action towards the Church, and representations 
made in reference to it, during the mission, undergo the strict- 
est scrutiny, as being in the least calculated to do it (the 
Church) or its members, either individually or collectively, 
any injury, beyond that of applying for aid in consequence 
of its diminished membership. 



APPENDIX, 



FIRST DOCUMENT 



New-York:, February 28th, 1859. 

TO THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN GREAT BRITAIN AND 

IRELAND : 

Dear Brethren : The Church of the Puritans in this city, under 
the pastoral care of the Rev. George B. Cheever, D.D.,'has, for 
several years past, been engaged in a deadly conflict with the sin 
of Slavery. In 1850, immediately after the passing of the infamous 
Fugitive Slave Bill, the Pastor delivered a discourse on that act, 
denouncing it from the word of God as an outrage upon natural 
rights, and subversive of the fundamental principles of morality 
and religion. So dee)> was the general apathy at that time, both 
in Church and State, that his burning words fell upon the congre- 
gation like a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky. The murmurs of 
dissatisfaction were loud and long, and one of the prominent mem- 
bers of the Church had the impious effrontery to demand of him 
what right he had to differ from the great constitutional lawyer 
and statesman, Daniel Webster? 

Afterwards, the aggressive and rapacious spirit of the Slave- 
power, by the removal of ancient landmarks, and trusted safe- 
guards of freedom, sent a thrill of alarm even through the heart of 
hoary expediency, and Dr. Cheever thought the time had come 
for striking a second blow. Accordingly, on Thanksgiving-day, 
1855, he preached with great earnestness and force against the 
crime of oppression, and it was announced the next morning in one 
of the leading journals that he appeared to see nothing before the 
country but desolation and woe. On this occasion, the impulsive 
brother, above referred to, was so intensely moved, t-hat he was 
compelled suddenly to rise from his pew and leave the church. 
And now a spirit of disaffection broke forth which no art could 
allay "without a compromise of principle. It was seen that the 
Pastor was profoundly impressed with the unspeakable wickedness 
of slavery, and had formed astern and immovable purpose to open 
upon it all the batteries of the word of God. The cotton-brokers 
of the congregation, and the worshippers of the pew-revenue, were 
terrified beyond measure, and began forthwith to plot for the over- 
throw of this arch enemy of the interests of commerce, and the 
prosperity of the Church. Undisturbed by their devices, however, 
he bravely persisted. 



30 APPENDIX. 

The discourses delivered at this time were afterwards embodied 
in a volume published by Dr. Cheever, entitled, God against 
Slavery. At length a band of twenty conspirators engaged in a 
formaf attempt to remove him from his post, but failing therein, 
they withdrew with their families from his ministration. 

Meanwhile, as you may imagine, no small uproar was excited 
without the walls of the Church. The slave-power was justly 
alarmed. Hitherto the Church in this country had been silent, or 
given its testimony only in a passing rebuke, or in general resolu- 
tions adopted at conventions, as a quietus to conscience, and filed 
away for historical reference, that posterity might find under the 
bushel the light which, in a spirit of blindness and apostasy, had 
been willfully excluded from the candlestick. The battle for free- 
dom has been carried on, for the most part by men of noble nature, 
whose hearts instinctively revolted from the injustice and cruelty 
of slavery, and who, misled by the interpretations by which the 
testimony of the Bible on this point has been so sadly perverted, 
has rejected the great truth of its plenary inspiration, and thus 
deprived their argument of the omnipotence of its divine authori- 
ty, and encumbered their cause with all the odiousness and oppro- 
brium of infidelity. The convenient answer to all their noble 
utterances in behalf of human rights was, that they were the rav- 
ings of Unitarians and Pantheists. At length it cametopass that 
some of the plainest elementary principles of Christianity, when 
applied to this subject, were either evaded or denied, and a system 
of oppression unequalled in criminality and horrors since the world 
began, was fast coming to be enshrined in the national conscience, 
and transfigured by the Church into a glorious missionary 
Institution. 

It can not, therefore, be a matter of surprise when Dr. Cheever 
came forth as a minister of Christ, and in his name, and by his 
authority, denounced it as a mystery of iniquity, and the sum of 
all villanies, utterly repudiated by the word of God, and worthy 
only of the divine vengeance ; that the fountains of the great deep 
should be broken up, and all the waters of this ocean of abomina- 
tions should be let loose upon him to overwhelm and destroy him. 
It is not necessary, dear brethren, that we should enter into a mi- 
nute detail of the trials and persecutions which he has had to 
encounter 'in this tremendous conflict. You can readily imagine 
the storm which would at once assail him, both from the religious 
and a great portion of the secular press. You can easily picture 
to yourselves the desertion, the ostracism, the reproaches, the de- 
tractions of the Clergy, and the general condemnation and repro- 
bation of the Church. You will have no difficulty in fancying the 
outcry which would be raised against him as a political preacher, 
and the revival of the old epithet of fanatic and madman. It is a 
source of deep thankfulness that he has not been utterly discomfit- 
ed and beaten down. His courage, indeed, rises with every new 
danger, and opposition only seems to quicken and invigorate both 
his intellectual and spiritual forces. His Church, though greatly 



APPENDIX. 3| 

weakened still stands firm, and all we need to place us beyond the 
reach of our adversaries is pecuniary aid. 

Under these circumstances, dear brethren, we appeal to you 
We know your intense hatred of all oppression. We know the 
deep interest you feel in the African race, and the mighty efforts 
and sacrifices yon have made on their behalf. We recognize the 
proud position in which your nation stands before the world, with 
an empire on which the sun never sets, untrod by the foot of a 
slave. Our hearts exult in this grand preeminence, because we 
ascribe it to the benign and sacred influence of our common 
Christianity, and because we see in it an earnest of our own de- 
liverance and exaltation. Dr. Cheever has caught the inspiration 
of your own great confessors and martyrs of liberty. He is march- 
ing in the footsteps of Wilberforce, and Clarkson, and Buxton, and 
Gurney, and Thompson, and Wardlaw, and Knibb who, in their 
day, unfurled the banner of divine truth and love, and led on the 
Church and nation to a glorious victory. We regard him as a 
witness raised up by the Almighty to our Church and nation. 
Endowed with a marvelous genius, furnished with the resources 
of an elaborate culture, eminently gifted with the graces of the 
Spirit, and prepared by a peculiar course of discipline, we could 
scarcely imagine a man more fitted to be a leader in this o T eat cause. 
Nor can we fail to admire the Providence which has piaced him,' 
in this momentous crisis, on the most conspicuous site of this 
metropolis, the central tower in the land. The importance of sus- 
taining him in this position can not be over-estimated. His over- 
throw would strike a blow at the freedom of the pulpit, and the 
freedom of man in this country, the disastrous effects of which no 
language could describe. On the other hand, his continuance 
there will enable him to hurl forth the thunderbolts of God's word 
with ever-increasing energy and power, and will give strength and 
courage to others, both among the Clergy and the private mem- 
bers of the Church, to follow^ his example. Already we begin to 
see the results of his labors, and we are persuaded that the candle 
which he has lighted in this land will never be put out, but will 
burn brighter and brighter, until it shall reveal to the hearts and 
consciences of the whole nation the true and full meaning, and 
universal application, of the famous declaration, " that all men are 
born free and equal, and have an inalienable right to life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness ;" and the insufferable infamy of the 
decision recently pronounced by the highest functionary in our 
supreme Tribunal of Justice: that "negroes have no rights, which 
white men are bound to respect." 

Henry A. Haett, M.D., ) Members of the Prudential 

D F , j" Committee. 

E F , 

E G , 

H S , and others.* 

* Some of the names in this document have been suppressed for prudential 
reasons. 



32 APPENDIX. 

New-York, February 28th, 1859. 
I hereby certify that Miss Elizabeth Johnstone is a most 
esteemed and respected member of the Church of the Puritans in 
this city, of which Church I am Pastor. Miss Johnstone visits 
Great Britain on a mission connected with the interests of this 
Church, in consequence of the desperate crisis through which we 
are passing in the great conflict for the rights and liberties of the 
oppressed colored race in this nation. We need and we must have 
it ; by the Divine blessing we shall have it ; andwe commend Miss 
Johnstone, in any appeal which she may have opportunity to make, 
most cordially and respectfully to the friends of the slave, and of 
those who have been declared, by the inhuman judicial decisions 
of the Supreme Tribunal of our country, to have no rights that 
white men are bound to respect. 

George B. Cheever. 



FIRST AGREEMENT. 

New York, March 1st, 1859. 
Miss Elizabeth Johnstone has undertaken to visit Great Britain, 
for the purpose of procuring funds for the benefit of the Church of 
the Puritans in this city. The money so obtained is to be given 
to Dr Cheever, and a committee of not less than five members of 
the Church to be chosen by him, with power to appoint their suc- 
cessors, whose duty it shall be to make a good and safe investment 
thereof, and appropriate the interest towards the maintenance of 
the said Church, so long as it shall continue to uphold those great 
principles of freedom which it now so signally represents in the 
eves of the whole world; and who, in the event of the abandon- 
ment by said Church of those principles, shall be empowered and 
required to devote both prineipal and interest to the establish- 
ment and maintenance of another Church of like principles, or 
some auxiliary object, as in their judgment and consciences may 
seem best. 

Henry A. Hartt, M.D., 
E. Johnstone. 

t ESSIE S A m T ' \ Witnesses. 
Lydia M. More, j 



SECOND AGREEMENT. 

Miss Elizabeth Johnstone has undertaken to visit Great Britain 
for the purpose of procuring funds for the Church of the Puritans 
in this city. The money so obtained is to be given to Dr. Cheever, 
and a committee of not less than five members of the Church, with 
power to appoint their successors, whose duty it shall be to make a 
good and safe investment thereof, and appropriate the interest to the 
maintenance of the said Church, as long as it shall continue to up- 
hold those great principles of freedom which it now so signally 
represents in the eyes of the whole world. The understanding 



APPENDIX. 33 

with regard to the remuneration of Miss Johnstone for her ser- 
vices is, that she shall receive ten per cent on all the sums she 
obtains; and that she shall pay her own expenses; and that she 
takes upon herself all the risks of the enterprise. 

(Signed) Henry A. IIartt, M.D. 

New- York, March 1, 1859. 

A copy of the above, it is believed, Dr. IIartt has in his posses- 
sion, fully s" 



ADDITIONAL SESTE1CES RECEIVED ABOUT THE 13TH OP 
MAY, 1859, TO STRENGTHEN MY POSITION. 



STATEMENT RESPECTING THE CHURCH OF THE PURITANS. 

Dr. George B. Cheever, Pastor of the Church of the Puritans 
in the city of New- York, is well known in Great Britain as the 
author of "Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress," "Wanderings of 
a Pilgrim," etc. He has been engaged for several years past in a 
deadly conflict with the sin of slavery, and is now recognized in 
his own country as the leading champion of the anti-slavery cause. 

He has taken high ground. Instead of contenting himself with 
opposing the extension of shivery, and discussing the moral duties 
arising out of its existence, . . . .he lays the axe at the 
root of the tree, denounces slavery as sin, and brings all the artil- 
lery of God's word to bear against it ; he earnestly longs and labois 
for its immediate and utter extinction. 

lie has long been regarded as one of the master-minds in the 
country. When, therefore, he commenced his onslaught upon- 
slavery, the attention of the nation was turned upon him. It was 
known that his blows would be tremendous, and would never 
cease till he or the monster should die. His Church, at this time, 
was in a most -nourishing condition. The congregation was large, 
and the pew revenues abundant. 

The Church stands in the very centre of the metropolis, sur- 
rounded by the mansions of the fashionable and the wealthy. It 
promised, in the language of some who have since deserted it, to be 
a most successful enterprise ; but no sooner was cotton, the greatidoi 
of the nation, attacked, than a dark cloud began to gather over the 
turrets of the temple on Union Square. The sword of the Spirit 
put to flight the peace of a compromising Christianity. A iierce 
discussion broke forth, and after a desperate struggle the Pastor 
triumphed. But a large body of the wealthiest and most influen- 
3 



34 APPENDIX. 

tial members of bis Church, including all the deacons, forsook him, 
united with his foes, and have done all they could, by slander and 
misrepresentations, to break him down. A new conspiracy has 
since been formed, and at this moment there are men of wealth 
and power in the Church who desire his removal, and who would 
gladly avail themselves of the first opportunity to accomplish it.* 
The majority may be confidently relied upon, but they need mate- 
rial aid to defray the inevitable expenses of the Church. There is 
a ground-rent upon the Church of $1500 per annum, which is 
equivalent to a permanent debt of nearly 822,000. 

Meanwhile, the whole force of the slave-power, and of the great 
body of the American Church, is against us. 

Dr. Cheever may justly be regarded as the Luther of America. 
Will British Christians suffer him to be overborne ? 

. . - The whole force of the slave-power is 

concentrated upon him, and his overthrow would be disastrous to 
all the interests of Christianity. 

Now, remember that you havi .full authority to represent this 
cause, and proceed boldly, only taking cure to prevent a premature 
denouement in this country The more that comes spontaneously 
from the hearts of the British people, after the leading men are 
apprised of the facts, the better. . . . 



New- York, July 16, 1859. 
My Deae .Miss Johnstone: 

I fear you have been grieved and vexed at my long silence. I 
would have answered your last letter immediately after its recep- 
tion, but an article had just appeared, in the Independent, with 
reference to your mission which, I feared, might seriously embar- 
rass 31 r. G. T. in the effort which he contemplates on the first of 
August. I therefore wrote a long letter to him, stating all the facts 
referred to in that article, as they occurred, and explaining to him the 
precise nature of the difficulties which gave rise to your mission. . . . 
I have been ever since so intensely occupied, that I could not find 
a moment to write. . . . I do not see how any one can fail to 
understand it, after the most cursory perusal of the documents 
which you at first carried with you. Mr. T. and his son-in-law 
seemed to comprehend it perfectly, and were willing at once to 
cooperate with you. . . . 

I can not forget that it was in the British churcnes that I 
learned to look upon our present economy as a faitli and repent- 
ance dispensation. The Church, indeed, every where seems to 
have lost sight of the true Christian philosophy — the beautiful 
combination of faith and works, inculcated by Christ and his 

* Of this new conspiracy iu the Church, I knew nothing, until put in po 
of this document ; and even then I was not made aware of its nature. 



APPENDIX. 35 



Apostles. It makes me sick at heart to hear of ministers whose 
fame is in all the churches, higgling about minute details in a 
cause like that of Dr. Cheever, wishing to know the precise amount 
of his salary, and how many cents exactly the income of the Church 
falls below the expenditures. It is enough for such men as G\ G. 
T. to know that God has at length given a Luther to America, 
and that the slave-power, with its eighteen hundred millions of 
dollars, and vast political influences, has concentrated all its force 
upon him, and threatens to crush him down. Their hearts are in 
full sympathy with the champion of freedom, and they can readily 
imagine that there may be strong reasons why, in the midst of the 
conflict, all the circumstance of his position, and the precise condi- 
tion of his troops, may not be published to the world without 
reserve. 

True wisdom is often shown in withholding, rather than reveal- 
ing, when the case in question is comprehensive and complicated. 
If, now, we had postponed our efforts in behalf of Dr. Cheever, 
until we could have presented a full detail of the facts, we would 
have waited to have seen him thrust forth from the Church of the 
Puritans, defeated and trodden down ; and then, amid the deafen- 
ing yell of tyrants rejoicing over liberty prostrate, freedom of 
speech outraged, and 'the independence of the American pulpit 
trampled in the dust, with what patience and calmness, we might, 
under such circumstances, have been able to command, we would 
have recounted the history of the conflict with the minutest par- 
ticularity, and concluded 'with the significant and by no means 
poeticaf tact, that Dr. Cheever was without a church, with a few 
faithful but penniless followers, and required at least one hundred 
thousand dollars to renew the tight. Would that have been wis- 
dom ? Certainly not ; for in addition to all other evils, the disastrous 
moral influence of such a defeat could not be over-estimated. 
Yet that is precisely the course which those practically counsel, who 
demand more definite statements. . . 

You may rely upon it, my dear Miss Johnstone, that I have not 
acted rashly in this matter, nor on my own judgment merely. 
Every step was carefully weighed, and nothing resolved upon 
without the entire concurrence of Dr. Cheever, whom I regard as 
unquestionably the master-mind of America. 

We were by no means sure of your success. . . . We did 
hope they would respond cordially to our appeal. If they have 
not done so, it is not our fault, nor yours. We have done all that 
under existing circumstances was ^>ossible. 

You must not be affected by any thing you may see in any of 
the American papers. As yet we have no organ. There is, there- 
fore, nothing published in any of the journals that may be relied 

upon as exclusively ours We hope, now, to have a 

true paper in this city. 

I have nothing new to write. The world moves of course, and 
so do we. But° nothing has transpired that particularly affects 



36 APPENDIX. 

your mission. I think you would do well to explore a little among 
the Dissenters. They used to be warm friends of freedom. 

Can you not get Dr. G. at work ? Now, my dear friend, I 
commend you to God, and the word of his grace. If He smile 
upon our undertaking it will prosper. I am sorry that Dr. Cheever 
can not go over. His new Avork detains him. I am much grieved 
at your annoyances and disappointments, but I trust a brighter 
day will soon dawn. 

Ever yours, most truly, 

H. A. Habit. 



i TRRftRY OF CONGRESS 
014 108 833 o 



